There Is No Hell

beliefnet ^ | Ap 1 06 | Rev Forrest Church

[churchillbuff]

The difference between Universalists and Unitarians (the old joke has it) is that Universalists believe that God is too good to damn them, whereas Unitarians believe that they’re too good to be damned. I am a Universalist.

For all my many failings, the day I wake up dead I won’t be in a cattle car on the fast train to Satan’s fiery pit. Nor will you. And neither will Old Scratch himself. If he actually exists, the devil too will be saved. In the good news of universalism, God is a loving God who will not rest until the entire creation is redeemed. All creatures will be saved. There is no hell.

It’s easy to understand why hell was invented (if quite late in the biblical record). Eternal damnation solves the sticky part of the problem of evil: Why do good things happen to bad people? Reserving a corner of hell for all who escape well-deserved punishment here on earth balances the moral ledger sheet. Justice is done. Otherwise, not only is life unfair; the afterlife becomes unfair as well.

The problem is, when we project our retributive logic onto a cosmic screen, we pervert the divine image. We predicate hell on the irreverent presumption that God’s appetite for vengeance—an all-voracious version of our own nagging hunger—must be satisfied. "She’ll get hers in hell," we say. That balances our ledger, but it turns God into a jailer.

The idea of purgatory makes perfectly good sense. I can imagine the utility of corrective punishment. But eternal hellfire demeans everything I believe about God. More important, it eviscerates the heart of Jesus’ gospel.

Jesus was anything but a biblical literalist. He teaches by parable, not by citing chapter and verse, and gets into holy mischief by repeatedly breaking the letter of scripture. Love is the sum and substance of all the law and the prophets, he teaches. He enjoins us to forgive and love our enemies. "Your enemy be damned," is no part of his gospel.

"Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect," Jesus instructs his disciples. That perfection can be summed up in three words, each an expression of divine love: justice, mercy and forgiveness. Standing alone, justice might allow for the creation of hell, but mercy and forgiveness render it morally impossible. We can sift a spoonful of evidence for hell from the scriptures, even as we can ladle out dozens of arguments for slavery. Neither, however, meets the requirements of the biblical Spirit, whose imperative is love.

If we, mere humans, can forgive unforgettable damage, can't God?

[Cvengr]

I've found the best approach to studying the topic of good and evil is to first study doctrines of righteousness and judgment while in fellowship with God through faith in Christ.

Many of the statements presented in the article are disproven by deeper study into Scripture and advanced faith.

Children and theologians have queried "Why do bad things happen to good people?" and "Why do good things happen to evil people?"

In a nutshell, the issues of sin have already been settled by Christ on the Cross. The issues of evil have not yet been resolved, for they must be solved over time. That is one reason why an angelic conflict remains.

For unbelieving men, God manifests love by enormous grace, while for believers, he also manifests His love through Divine discipline. From the perspective of the unrighteous believer, divine discipline is not love, but harsh punishment. From the perspective of an unbeliever, that love and grace is frequently confused with good and evil in worldly institutions.

Success is available through divinely established institutions when legitimately dwelled (e.g. free will, marriage, family, and government) for believer and unbeliever alike, because they are living within Divine Providence. Misery is always consequent to those who separate themselves from God by first thinking in fashions without faith in Christ. Joy is always available for those who return to God through faith in Christ as provided by Him. Enduring Divine Discipline while remaining in fellowship with Him isn't always a happy experience, though joy may be coincident with suffering.

[Gingersnap]

I've often heard people make that same argument, "Well, if even I wouldn't condemn Hitler to Hell and I'm flawed, there's no way God would do it!"

The problem here is attempting to superimpose human notions of mercy on Divine Justice. There can be no mercy without justice and no justice without mercy. How God handles all that is not our problem.

Avoiding Hell is our problem and the theological math for that is plain (if unappealing to some).

[Quester]

Hell (whatever it really is) ... is for those which unremittingly continue to oppose God ... like Satan has.